In brief: Officer, 18 others killed in drug war

CIUDAD VICTORIA, Mexico – A series of shootings left 18 people dead Monday in a town in northern Mexico where a turf war has raged between two brutal drug cartels.

The violence damaged the city hall, a court and the police headquarters in Padilla, a town just north of the Tamaulipas state capital of Ciudad Victoria, the state government said in a statement.

In neighboring Nuevo Leon state, meanwhile, gunmen killed a top intelligence officer, then torched his car, the state government said.

Homero Salcido Trevino’s body was found in a smoldering car abandoned in downtown Monterrey.

Terror assistant leaves prison

NEW YORK – An al-Qaida operative who helped set up the camp where the 2005 London suicide bombers were trained has been sentenced to 10 years of probation after serving less than five years in prison.

Mohammed Junaid Babar, 35, confessed in 2004 to setting up the camp in South Waziristan, Pakistan, and equipping it with explosives, night vision goggles and camping gear. He told a federal judge in New York that he knew some of the militants were planning a bomb attack in Britain.

A year after his confession, four men who were trained at the camp detonated backpack bombs in the London subway, killing themselves and 52 victims. After the bombings, Babar testified for the government in four trials targeting al-Qaida militants, three of the trials in Britain and one in Canada. At least 10 people were convicted because of his testimony, the U.S. government says.

Babar pleaded guilty to five terrorism charges and faced a possible 70 years in prison, but court documents show that on Dec. 10 he was sentenced to time served and 10 years of probation as a reward for his cooperation.

Man counters rescue claims

SANTIAGO, Chile – Chileans directly involved in saving 33 trapped miners last year rejected claims on Monday that the men seriously considered suicide and cannibalism, or that a technician fooled the world by transmitting previously videotaped scenes to cover up a potential disaster during the rescue.

Reinaldo Sepulveda, who directed the live television feed that broadcast images of the rescue around the world, told the Associated Press that there was never any attempt to hide what was going on by repeating parts of the feed, as Jonathan Franklin alleges in his book, “33 Men.” The book claims that at one point, a cable was cut by a rockslide, and previously broadcast images were transmitted to cover it up.

46-hour-long kiss breaks record

PATTAYA, Thailand – It was one long kiss for a couple – one record-breaking embrace for mankind.

A determined Thai couple locked lips for 46 hours, 24 minutes and nine seconds to celebrate Valentine’s Day in this southern beach resort town, emerging victorious after a “kissathon” organizer’s claim marked the longest recorded smooch in history.

The previous record of just over 32 hours was set in 2009 by a couple in Germany, according to Guinness World Records, whose officials will have to verify the latest milestone for it to become official.

Fourteen couples kicked off the contest at 6 a.m. Sunday.

Ekkachai and Laksana Tiranarat, of Bangkok, won a diamond ring worth $1,606 and $3,213 in cash.